In recent years, policy makers have been increasing service user involvement in service planning, normally via consultation processes. However, the scope of these consultations varies greatly. This study investigated the views of two parents of children with learning disabilities who had been involved in steering groups designed to plan new services. Two themes were highlighted: the parents felt unable to comment on the details of the services due to a lack of understanding of the terminology used; and the link between user consultation and service planning was unclear. The article concludes that more research is required in order to understand how to effectively include service users in service planning
